The 9 Rings
by Aquilos
Summary: Kirito may be the owner of Excalibur the unique Legendary Sword in game, but that doesn't mean other players will let him keep it so easily. When an infamous group of renegades make it known to Kirito that they're after the Legendary Sword, how will he respond to their challenge.


**Kirito and the crew managed to obtain Excalibur, the only one in game. With Kirito now the sword's master his name became widely known throughout Alfheim online as Excalibur's wielder. But like all those with power, there are those who seek to take it from them too.**

"Hnnnnngggggh." Kirito stretched out his tired arms on the couch back in his Yggdrasil home on Alfheim online. "That quest was exhausting." he moaned. Behind him, Asuna and Klein dumped their loot and drops onto the counter.

"Well you insisted we do it." Asuna replied, "Even though you knew it involved slaying twelve frost giants within five minutes."

"I did know that, I just didn't think they'd all be buffed with Eldritch Indomitability." Silica, Leafa, and Lizbeth, walked in the door as he said that.

"Well at least you got to test run Excalibur during all that." said Silica with a grin.

"That is true." Kirito replied, "Though I think I still prefer my regular sword."

"Ehhh?!" Leafa cried, "But that's the most powerful sword in game, why would you use anything else?"

"Because it's not just about power." Kirito said. "Besides, Lizbeth's sword is nicely forged and reliable."

"Aw, I'm touched." Lizbeth replied giggling.

"Papa's right." Yui said as she lept out of Kirito's pocket and transformed into human form. "It's not just about power, it's about playing the way you want."

"Mhm." Kirito agreed with a nod, "and I'm going to do it the way I want to." Just as he said that, Sinon burst in through the door.

"Guys look at this!" She cried holding up a piece of parchment. The group gathered around to look at the paper.

"It looks like a message." Leafa said as she stepped up for a closer look. "And it's addressed to Kirito." She took the parchment and handed it to him. "It's a user encrypted message so it'll only open when the intended recipient interacts with it." Kirito took the piece of parchment from her and tapped the red seal on the bottom. Immediately, the words on the parchment unscrambled and a clear and short message appeared.

"The Mark Is Set." Kirito read. As soon as he was done, the parchment burned up into ash and disappeared. "What does that mean?" Kirito asked. Everyone all around shook their heads except Leafa.

"Oh, you don't know do you." She said. Everyone looked at her. "Sit down guys, this needs a serious talk."

Everyone got seated around the coffee table, anxious to know what Leafa had to tell them. She had her hands folded together and looked like she was contemplating how to deliver the news. She finally puts her hands down and sighs. "It's the 9 Rings." She began.

"9 Rings, what's that?" Klein asked.

"I wouldn't expect many of you to know since you're all only a year or so into this game, but the 9 Rings are a group of renegades." she explained.

"Renegades?" Asuna asked, "What do they want?"

"They're a group notorious for assassination contracts and a high PK count." Leafa continued. "Their primary focus however, is the obtainment of high rarity artifacts in game, through any means necessary."

"Does this mean that they're..." Sinon began,

"Yes, if they're targeting Kirito, then they must be after Excalibur." Leafa said, finishing Sinon's thought. "Particularly in this case because Excalibur is one of the few weapons in game not classified as "playerbound" meaning that it's not bound to a single player, so it can be looted off of him if he dies and there is a player with a high enough looting skill."

"They're just renegades," Klein said, "How tough can they be? Most of them are bottom feeding scum anyway."

"Not them." Leafa said, "The 9 Rings have been around since the early days of Alfheim Online. They were single handedly responsible for twelve different assassinations of various leaders of the races, and many more against other players. Their power is said to be unmatchable each of them with skills honed to their absolute limits, in fact it wouldn't be a stretch to call them the most powerful group in game."

"I never saw their group ever being ranked on the forums though." Klein said.

"That's because the forums don't rank renegades." Kirito said. "They're seen as the lowest of the low and most of the players refuse to acknowledge them."

"You shouldn't underestimate them." Leafa said, "Each member has the power to easily take on all of us, and it is very likely they would succeed if they tried."

"Well what do we know about them." Lizbeth asked, "If they're as notorious as you say there should be some information available."

"There is." Leafa said. she opened up her menu and selected the controller for the enormous viewing screen on the window end of the room. The screen blinked to life displaying a list of nine names.

"The first one, Leonart." Leafa said as she selected the first name, "A Salamander who specializes in hand to hand combat. People who have faced him say that he absolute decimates his opponents due to his martial arts. It's reported he uses specially enchanted gauntlets to fight." She moved on to the second name on the list.

"The second one, Linx, is a Cait Sith. She specializes in attacking people with her eagle at close range while she herself snipes them from afar. It's rumored her effective range is around two hundred to three hundred meters, almost Sinon's level."

"That's crazy." Sinon said.

"The next one, Gillith is a Leprechaun who fights using an extremely durable suit of armor that is believed to be made by him. Others say that the armor is made of solid mithril and is invincible to any attack."

"That's going to be difficult." Lizbeth said with a sigh.

"Charu, is a Pooka." Lizbeth said scrolling down, "He's apparently a master of confusion and disorientation. Those who fought him said that the fight was usually over by the time they realized it due to the power of his enchanted lute."

"Annoying." Kirito said.

"Following Charu on the list is Uluru, a Gnome who specializes in Earth magic. She's been reported to be able to the turn the ground inside out in her efforts to defeat her opponent, but there's no specifics on her powers."

"Maybe try aerial combat?" Silica suggested. "If she specializes in Earth magic she should have a disadvantage in the air."

"Sounds like a plan." Kirito replied as Leafa scrolled down the list.

"Unfortunately" Leafa said with a sigh, "that was last bit of detailed information on them. The other four members are a Spriggan named Nox, an Imp named Dregg, Xephyr the Sylf, and finally Azuza, the Undine. There's little info on them because not many players have survived against them long enough to figure out their abilities, or rather have not encountered them enough to document them."

"So I only know a little more than half of their groups' abilities huh?" Kirito leaned back with a sigh. "This'll be tough."

"Wait, Kirito," Klein said, "Why do you have to respond to their challenge anyway?" Everyone looked at him, "Think about it, he can just ignore the challenge and not log in for a while." Leafa shook her head, "Didn't you hear me before? The 9 Rings will use any means necessary. It's no use if Kirito tries to avoid them. They'll stalk his footsteps as soon as he logs in and force a fight every chance they get, he'll be trapped to safe zones if he doesn't respond. There's even rumors they hunt down the players in real life too."

"But that's crazy." Klein argued, "It's insane what they'll do for their own personal gain."

"Enough." Kirito suddenly cut in, quieting the room. "I'll respond to their challenge."

"Eh? You can't be serious." Klein cried, "We all just found out there's only information on half of them. You're going in blind, what if you lose Excalibur?"

"I won't." Kirito said, "That's a promise." he nodded to Sinon, "Also I want to know exactly how strong these players are, to fight a good fight again."

"Thinking with your muscles, as usual." Lizbeth taunted. "Typical. She got up and stretched. "Well it's your sword do what you want I guess."

"We'll support you in any way we can in that case." Silica said, with Pina giving a screech from her shoulder.

"Argh what the hell, go for it." Klein said, slumping back down exasperated.

"Alright so we're doing this then?" He looked at Asuna who gave him a nod. "Alright, Leafa, how do I respond to the challenge?"

"According to other players, you have to leave a silver dagger buried in your door." Leafa instructed him, "Then they'll know you accepted their challenge."

"Gotcha." Kirito said. He walked outside of the house and opened up his inventory. He selected a silver dagger from the drop down list and impaled it right in the center of the wood. Satisfied it was stable, he walked back into the house. Unbeknownst to him, high above him on one of the branches of Yggdrasil a group of nine fairies were watching him.

"So he accepts." One of them said

"So it seems." Another replies

"Enough of talking." yet another says, "Let's take him on now." he punches his fists together.

"Patience." A female voice came from the middle of the group, "All in due time, and soon the power of that legendary sword will be ours."


End file.
